Gamespot, amongst many other fatuous and pointless websites, have commented on the glorious gib-splattering year of FPS gaming ahead. Indeed, the imminent releases (read: delays) of Unreal Tournament 2004, Half-Life 2, Doom 3 co-op and so on, do leave me tingling with soon-to-be-disappointed anticipation.

What better way to herald in the best games of 1864, or whenever they were originally scheduled for release, than to have a retrospective debate upon the top ten FPS games of yesteryear? - thus filling editorial space with ease whilst making the readership feel like their opinions matter.

And since PlanetCrap has been as dead as the Mega-Beaver recently, why not copy said fatuity and gross pointlessness?

However, for our own musings, I suggest that the FPS games be separated into multiplayer and singleplayer categories, with mods standing alone on their own merits (though modability might be a criteria in rating a game). Judgements would be better based on personal enjoyment (at the time) rather than impact or importance to the genre.

Thanks to the resounding failure of Hip Hop Day, I've decided that a new, better day will be instated this Friday. That's right, it's "Jibble's-Getting-Married-and-You-Don't-Have-To-Wade-Knee-Deep-Through-Posts-All-Day-for-Two-Weeks Day" or "Planetcrap Freedom Day" for short.

March 19th, everything changes*.

*Offer expires April, 2004. Coupons may not be redeemed at a later date.

"No degree of dullness can safeguard a work against the determination of critics to find it fascinating." - Harold Rosenberg

What's so different about Halo on legendary mode? I started a game with it, but it seemed exactly the same, just the enemies were a lot tougher. Which seemed to translate directly into longer firefights. Which I didn't see translate into fun. Did I miss something when I tried it? How is it a different experience?

Anyway, I think multiplayer games are inherently harder to explain why they're fun. There's no story to like or dislike, no plot, no characters, etc. Singleplayer games have control over the playing experience, and it can suck if the developers wield their powers poorly. But with multiplayer games your first match can be on a poor server, with lousy teammates, and you accidentally run up against the most fierce clan out there. Not so much in the ways of funny. And since everyone has their own unique experiences, you get all of these fractured opinions. Case in point: in Battlefield, I've never emptied a clip into thin air right infront of an enemy, so when people bring that up as an issue I simply can't relate. On the other hand, everyone went through Xen in Half-Life, saw the same levels and faced the same monters, so there's a much more stable platform to discuss and compare from.

Re: creating singleplayer content. Yeah I think it's a whole lot more difficult to make. Developer has to worry about story arcs, providing fresh content all the time, dialog, AI, memorable events, and, well, the whole thing is just quite damn content heavy and complicated. Not to mention complicated to test, as each part of the game is essentially unique and requires undivided attention and love. Any modern game, SP or MP, is a beast to complete, but I think there are many more things that needs to click just right to make a singleplayer game successful. And of course singleplayer games gets to compete with the same narrative toolset that movies have been using for a century. So everyone knows beforehand how well a story can be told.. at least with multiplayer games you're not borderline competing with techinques others have long since developed.

And now I'll go fetch myself some of that free candy someone placed out in the hallway.

it seemed exactly the same, just the enemies were a lot tougher. Which seemed to translate directly into longer firefights. Which I didn't see translate into fun.

The enemies don't get more hit points or shielding, they just get their AI turned up to ten. This forces you to play like a complete badass, tagging guys with grenades while in mid air, making every shot count, and weaving through the incoming fire like a monkey on steroids. It's really great when you finally clear a room.

Oh, also, another thing that was really good about BF1942 and Tribes was that you didn't have to worry about finding weapons or whatnot, you could just spawn with them (BF1942), or spawn next to an inventory station (Tribes).

I like the weapon racks in UT2K4, they accomplish the same thing.

#56 BobJustBob

Alternatively, I predict that you'll get divorced within six years.

I make that prediction for every couple. It's a safe bet.

For me, it'll be six years this August. Barring something catastrophic, I'll make it. What do I win?

I'm 6 years in August too, I'm thinking Bob doesn't have much experience with marriage.

Conveniently Forgotten Facts
Back in 1969 a group of Black Panthers decided that a fellow black panther named... Alex Rackley needed to die. Rackley was suspected of disloyalty. Rackley was first tied to a chair. Once safely immobilized, his friends tortured him for hours by, among other things, pouring boiling water on him.

When they got tired of torturing Rackley, Black Panther member, Warren Kimbo took Rackley outside and put a bullet in his head. Rackley's body was later found floating in a river about 25 miles north of New Haven, Conn. Perhaps at this point you're curious as to what happened to these Black Panthers. In 1977, that's only eight years later, only one of the killers was still in jail. The shooter, Warren Kimbro, managed to get a scholarship to Harvard and became good friends with none other than Al Gore. He later became an assistant dean at Eastern Connecticut State College. Isn't that something?

As a '60s radical you can pump a bullet into someone's head, and a few years later, in the same state, you can become an assistant college dean! Only in America! Erica Huggins was the lady who served the Panthers by boiling the water for Mr. Rackley's torture. Some years later Ms. Huggins was elected to a California School Board. How in the world! do you think these killers got off so easy?

Maybe it was in some part due to the efforts of two people who came to the defense of the Panthers. These two people actually went so far as to shut down Yale University with demonstrations in defense of the accused Black Panthers during their trial. One of these people was none other than Bill Lan Lee. Mr. Lee, or Mr. Lan Lee, as the case may be, isn't a college dean. He isn't a member of a California School Board. He is now head of the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, appointed by none other than Bill Clinton. O.K., so who was the other Panther defender? Is this other notable Panther defender now a school board member? Is this other Panther apologist n! ow an assistant college dean? No, neither! The other Panther defender was, like Lee, a radical law student at Yale University at the time. She is now known as The "smartest woman in the world"

She is none other than the Democratic senator from the State of New York, our former First Lady, the incredible Hillary Rodham Clinton. And now, as Paul Harvey said; You know "the rest of the story." Remember that, if and when she runs for President.

While it is technically possible to play Nocturne as a FPS, I'll refrain from listing it at this time. I also can't list JK:JA because playing it in first person mode, and bothering to use guns and shooting, ruins the game. Strictly third person lightsabersnessosity for me. I will also only list what is still installed on my machine right now.

If only it were that simple. I agree, but their are certain parental emotional realities. Especially when parents are bogged down in religious delusions. It will be payback for our years of living in sin.

Fighting the war on weapons of mass destruction-related program activity.

Yeah, Halo works on Legendary because the enemies aren't stronger, they're better. If they just got faster or more health I wouldn't play it, but they get terrifyingly smart and every encounter with a couple of elites becomes a whole game's worth of excitement. Plus between the varied environs and enemy strategies, each fight is a unique experience and you have to work for every room you go through. The flood isn't really that good a sequence, but the rest is great.

I'm in my 10th year of marriage... To think it about in terms of 10 years, it seems like a long time, but when I think back over the memories, the good times and bad, it seems to go by in a blink. I'd like at least another 80 years please.

"Good, good. Now, and here is where I'm going with this - I'll be fucked if I can remember how to farm."
- LP